Whatever the standard might be, I've had more Manhattans served in cocktail glasses than martini glasses. As per a great bar(the Coq D'or, for instance) a great cocktail is a great cocktail. I only brought up the martini glass issue because, in my experience, that's the exception to the rule(cocktail glass). It makes sense if the Manhattan is served "up" that a martini glass should suffice.

As for gimlets...that's the s/o's favorite cocktail. He uses Rose's at home(I can't stand the stuff). I've never had a vodka gimlet and understood that those were merely a permutation of the traditional gin. A few times the s/o's been served a vodka gimlet(which he despises...he likes vodka...not in a gimlet) upon ordering a "gimlet" and expecting gin. He orders Bombay Sapphire, Boodles, or Hendricks, if available.

Hendricks, imo, is perfumey enough to simply serve "up." I wouldn't use it in a cocktail. Bombay holds it's own against Rose's. Again, we order these cocktails in better bars...not a corner joint. Bars we're familar with enough to guarantee a well-thought, strong drink.

Christopher - A question on terminology. When I say "martini glass," I mean a conical glass holding 6 to 8 oz. on a stemware base, so I'm wondering if (a) that's what you are referring to by use of the same term and (b) what you are referring to as a "cocktail glass" -- please describe in terms of shape, size and/or volume. Thanks!

JimInLoganSquare wrote:Christopher - A question on terminology. When I say "martini glass," I mean a conical glass holding 6 to 8 oz. on a stemware base, so I'm wondering if (a) that's what you are referring to by use of the same term and (b) what you are referring to as a "cocktail glass" -- please describe in terms of shape, size and/or volume. Thanks!

Martini glass, exactly.

"cocktail glass" ---a heavy-weighted, thick-bottomed tumbler:

"cocktail glass" was quoted earlier in the thread so I just ran with it...I would've used the word, "tumbler." a short, fat, heavy, "tumbler."

There's a vast vocabulary of preferred cocktail glasses(just like wine glasses, I suppose)...I'm just too lazy right now to do the research/googling.

Christopher Gordon wrote:"cocktail glass" ---a heavy-weighted, thick-bottomed tumbler:

"cocktail glass" was quoted earlier in the thread so I just ran with it...I would've used the word, "tumbler." a short, fat, heavy, "tumbler."

Got it. The "cocktail glass" is what I would call an old fashioned or rocks.

Because "martini" (tm) drinks are so popular, nearly everything you might order comes in those stemmed glasses these days. I've had to stop bartenders from pouring all sorts of things into them (a Negroni being my drink of choice).

leek wrote:Because "martini" (tm) drinks are so popular, nearly everything you might order comes in those stemmed glasses these days. I've had to stop bartenders from pouring all sorts of things into them (a Negroni being my drink of choice).

The bartenders at The Matchbox are inclined to shake the ingredients for a Negroni and pour them "up" in a Martini glass.

And, while I was skeptical at first, I gotta tell ya, the results are stunning.

[I largely share your frustration, though.]

E.M.

The terminology I was taught back in the day, when I used to sell barware commercially:

DOF, AKA "Double Old-Fashioned," or "rocks" glass = short, squatty heavy-bottomed glass, used for things like Gimlets, Rusty Nails, Vodka rocks, Scotch rocks, and such - in other words, strong drinks served over ice

Highball, what you all are calling a "tumbler" = a taller version of a rocks glass, used for drinks like Collinses, G&T's, Rum & Cokes, Whisky & sodas, and such

Cocktail glass, AKA "Martini" glass = for shaken & strained drinks, not just Martinis (such as the quaint old Pink Squirrels and Grasshoppers, and newfangled stuff like Cosmopolitans)

Snifters = for neat drinks, either room temp or shaken & strained unmixed drinks

Cooler = a taller, narrower highball glass, used for nasty things like Long Island Iced Teas and sometimes Mai Tais, depending on how much foo-foo is perched on the rim and inserted in the drink

When I used "cocktail glass" earlier in the thread, I was using it synonymously with, but more generically than, "martini glass." When I first read Christopher's post above, my question was the same as Jim's. I would consider a cocktail glass and an old fashioned quite different things.

Here's a helpful reference page for barroom glassware. Cin-Cin!

Aaron Deacon wrote:When I used "cocktail glass" earlier in the thread, I was using it synonymously with, but more generically than, "martini glass." When I first read Christopher's post above, my question was the same as Jim's. I would consider a cocktail glass and an old fashioned quite different things.

...it was my misunderstanding to begin with:

my final revision---

I expect a Manhattan in a "double old-fashioned, etc."

I was thinking "tumbler" could apply to the aforementioned OR a taller glass, but the more I think about it, the taller glass wins out as per sundevilpeg, above.

aside: is "tumbler" a Southern term? Or, simply out of fashion? I don't hear it used much these days

Christopher Gordon wrote:aside: is "tumbler" a Southern term? Or, simply out of fashion? I don't hear it used much these days

Tumbler is really an old term - back to the days when glasses had thick rounded bottoms (on the outside) and had to be kept on a holder (with a concave top) - essentially to discourage theft.

sazerac wrote:

Christopher Gordon wrote:aside: is "tumbler" a Southern term? Or, simply out of fashion? I don't hear it used much these days

Tumbler is really an old term - back to the days when glasses had thick rounded bottoms (on the outside) and had to be kept on a holder (with a concave top) - essentially to discourage theft.

a light begins to dawn...

thank you kindly

Forty or so years ago a martini glass was conical with a stem. A cocktail glass had a stem but might be conical or have a somewhat rounded bottom. Bars often used the the martini glass for all cocktails, except sours, served up. Some bars used the bird-bath champagne/sherbet glasses for some cocktails such as margaritas and frozen daiquiris. I didn't have so many cocktails then that I can't remember what glasses were used.